Bag making and packaging apparatus

ABSTRACT

A bag making and packaging apparatus is adapted to bend a film and to form a packaging bag. The bag making and packaging apparatus includes a former and a supporting member. The former is configured and arranged to form the film into a tubular shape. The supporting member removably supports the former. The supporting member is configured and arranged to allow movement of the former from a first position, in which a packaging operation is performed, to a second position, which is lower than the first position.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This national phase application claims priority to Japanese PatentApplication No. 2007-100354 filed on Apr. 6, 2007. The entire disclosureof Japanese Patent Application No. 2007-100354 is hereby incorporatedherein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a bag making and packaging apparatusfor packaging an article which is introduced while forming a packagingbag from a sheet of packaging material, and pertains to the technicalfield of packaging machines.

BACKGROUND ART

A bag making and packaging apparatus is used for enclosing an articlesuch as potato chips or the like in a packaging bag, and for sealing thebag to produce a product. The bag making and packaging apparatus isconfigured to bend a packaging material (film) dispensed from a rollinto a tubular shape by a former, and to introduce and package anarticle in the bent packaging material while the material is sealed inthe vertical and horizontal directions and formed into a packaging bag.

The former integrally comprises a shoulder part and a chute part. Theshoulder part is configured to fold a packaging material so that bothside parts of the packaging material are brought together and to bendthe packaging material into a tubular shape. The chute part isconfigured to introduce an article into the tubular packaging materialwhose bottom end part has been sealed. The size of the shoulder part,the dimensions of the chute part and the like must correspond to thoseof the bag to be produced. Therefore, the former need to be replacedwhenever the product size changes. In such a case, replacing the formeris a complicated task which requires time and labor, because the formerhas the integrated configuration having the shoulder part and the chutepart, as described above and the former is heavy.

In order to address this problem, Japanese Laid-Open Patent ApplicationPublication No. 2005-41576 A discloses a supporting mechanism (support)comprising a first portion mounted on the former, and a second portionaffixed to the main body of the bag making and packaging apparatus, as asupporting structure for a former (forming machine) in a bag making andpackaging apparatus. The supporting mechanism is configured to allow thefirst portion to move in relation to the second portion. The formermounted on the first portion can thereby move from a first position, inwhich the packaging operation is performed, to a second position, whichis readily accessed by an operator. With this configuration, inattaching or detaching the former, it is expected that moving the formerto the second position, where it is readily accessed by an operator,improves the workability of attaching or detaching.

The supporting structure of the former described in the above mentionedpublication will now be described in more detail. In a first embodimentshown in FIGS. 1 to 4 of the above mentioned publication, a formingmachine support 20 comprises a pair of support beams 22 extending froman enclosure (case) 17, a pair of guides 23 mounted on the beams 22, anda pair of rods 24 slidably supported on each of the guides 23. The rods24 form the above-mentioned first portion of the forming machine support20, and the guides 23 form the above-mentioned second portion of thesupport 20 (see paragraph 0030 and FIG. 2).

The rods 24 can slide in the guides 23, which thereby causes a formingmachine 14 to move from a first position to a horizontally displacedsecond position (see paragraph 0033). The forming machine 14 comprises abase 28, and a forming machine shoulder member 29. The base 28 isremovably mounted on the leading end part of the rods 24 (see paragraphs0031 and 0037).

In a second embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a forming machine support47 comprises a pair of arms 42, a rotation assembly 44, and a rotationassembly 46. The pair of arms 42 extends horizontally from the enclosure17. The rotation assembly 44 has the arm 42 and a vertical shaftextending through the base 28 of the forming machine 14. The rotationassembly 46 has a vertical shaft extending between the arm 42 and theenclosure 17. The rotation assembly 44 on the forming machine 14 forms afirst portion 43 of the forming machine support 47, and the rotationassembly 46 on the enclosure 17 forms a second portion 45 of the formingmachine support 47 (see paragraph 0042).

In a third embodiment shown in FIG. 7, a forming machine support 50comprises a pair of arms 52. The pair of arms 52 is disposed so as tonarrow the space between the pair of arms 52 toward a rotation assembly53. The rotation assembly 53 allows the forming machine 14 to rotatearound the vertical shaft 54 (see paragraph 0047). The first and secondportions constituting the forming machine support 50 are not veryclearly described for this embodiment; however, a comparison with thesimilarly constructed second embodiment suggests that the rotationassembly 53 corresponds to the second portion, and an end part of thearm 52 or the forming machine 14 corresponds to the first portion.

In all of these embodiments, the second portion is secured to the mainbody of the forming machine (exterior structure), and the formingmachine is removably mounted on the first portion, which is capable ofmoving in relation to the second portion. As a result, the formingmachine can be moved from the first position to the second position, andcan also be detached from or attached to the support in the secondposition. Therefore, it can be expected to improve the workability ofattaching and detaching the forming machine.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

However, the support structure of the former as disclosed in the abovementioned publication is configured so that the first portionconstituting the support is pulled forward or turned laterally withinthe horizontal plane in relation to the second portion. Therefore, themovement of the former which is mounted on the first portion is alsolimited to the horizontal plane when it is moved from the first positionto the second position. It is not necessarily satisfactory in terms ofimproving the workability of attaching and detaching the former.

In this type of bag making and packaging apparatus, components such as ahorizontal seal device for sealing the tubular packaging material in thewidth direction are disposed below the former. The former is therebyattached in a comparatively high position. Therefore, in the structuredescribed in above mentioned publication, even if the operator moves theformer to the second position for readily access, he/she needs to handlea heavy object in a high position for attaching or detaching the former,which is just a little improvements in terms of workability.

It is an object of the present invention to further improve theworkability of attaching and detaching the former in this type of a bagmaking and packaging apparatus.

In order to solve the abovementioned problem, a bag making and packagingapparatus according to the first aspect is a bag making and packagingapparatus adapted to bend a film and form a packaging bag. The bagmaking and packaging apparatus includes a former and a supportingmember. The former is configured and arranged to from the film into atubular shape. The supporting member removably supports the former.Furthermore, the supporting member is configured and arranged to allowmovement of the former from a first position, in which a packagingoperation is performed, to a second position, which is lower than thefirst position.

Preferably, the supporting member includes a sliding member and arotational member. The sliding member is configured and arranged toslide the former horizontally. The rotational member is configured andarranged to pivot the former about a prescribed pivot point, to allow avertical movement of the former. The sliding member and the rotationalmember are configured and arranged to move the former from the firstposition to the second position by a sliding motion of the slidingmember and a pivoting motion of the rotational member.

As a result of the above-described configuration, according to thepresent invention, the former is supported on the supporting member soas to be capable of moving from the first position, in which thepackaging operation is performed, to the second position, which is lowerthan the first position; and the former is removably attached to thesupporting member. Therefore, when the heavy former is replaced or otherprocedure is performed, the attaching or detaching operation can beperformed at a comparatively low position, and the operation is improvedin terms of workability.

The supporting member comprises a sliding member and a rotationalmember, which allows the former to move in the horizontal and/orvertical directions. For example, the former can be slid from the firstposition, in which the packaging operation is performed, and rotated ata pulled-forward position; or the former can be pulled forward with therotated orientation. Accordingly, the second position, in which theformer is attached or detached, can be set at the front of the main bodyof the forming machine and at a comparatively low position, whichthereby improves the workability of attaching or detaching the formercompared to when the attaching or detaching the former is performedinside or inner part of the main body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an overall side view of a bag making and packaging apparatusaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view of a main part of the form/fill/sealmachine shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the parts shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view along a section line I-I in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the supporting member and the former unit,showing a state in which the former unit has been pulled forward;

FIG. 6 is a side view of the supporting member and the former unit,showing a state in which the former unit has also been rotated forward;and

FIG. 7 is a side view of the supporting member, showing a state in whichthe former unit has been removed.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

A preferred embodiment of the present invention is described below.

As shown in FIG. 1, a bag making and packaging apparatus 1 according tothe present embodiment has a main body 2. The main body 2 has a supportpart 3 and a former unit 10. The support part 3 is provided above therear part of the main body 2. The support part 3 supports a film roll a.The former unit 10 is arranged above the front part of the main body 2.The former unit 10 has a vertical seal device 4 and a horizontal sealdevice 5. The vertical seal device 4 is disposed in front of a lowerpart of the former unit 10. The horizontal seal device 5 is disposedunderneath the former unit 10.

The former unit 10 comprises a shoulder part 11 and a chute portion 12.The shoulder part 11 is configured to hold a continuous sheet of a filmb with guiding the film b downward and to bring edge parts of eithersides of the film b together. The film b is dispensed forward from theroll a on the support part 3. The edge parts brought together are weldedtogether by the vertical seal device 4 to form a tubular shaped film.The tubular shaped film is then sealed in the width direction by thehorizontal seal device 5 to form a bag c.

As shown enlarged in FIGS. 2 and 3, the upper part of the chute part 12of the former unit 10 is a substantially conical article-introducingpart 12 a, and the lower part of the chute part 12 is a cylindricalarticle-guiding part 12 b inserted into the bag c formed by the shoulderpart 11. An article introduced via an opening of the upper end of thearticle-introducing part 12 a is guided downward by the article-guidingpart 12 b, and directed into the bag c. The horizontal seal device 5then seals and cuts the bag c above the portion where the article wasintroduced. A finished product that the article is hermetically sealedin the bag c is thereby produced.

The former unit 10 has a base plate 13, and left and right supportingpillars 14, 14. The left and right supporting pillars 14, 14 areprovided vertically to the base plate 13. The base plate 13 and thesupporting pillars 14, 14 support the shoulder part 11 and the chutepart 12, so that all of these components are integrated into a singleunit.

The structure for supporting the former unit 10 on the main body 2 willnow be described.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the main body 2 has a substrate 6 attachedbetween left and right frames 2 a, 2 a. The substrate 6 has a pair ofleft and right fixed members 7, 7 in a forward extending manner. Theleft and right fixed members 7, 7 have a shape of a vertical wall. Thefixed members 7, 7 have rails 7 a, 7 a. The rails 7 a, 7 a are disposedon the upper surface of the fixed members 7, 7, and extend in thetransverse direction. The fixed members 7, 7 have guide blocks 7 b, 7 b,respectively. The guide blocks 7 b, 7 b are attached to the lowersurface of the front end part of the fixed members 7, 7.

A supporting member for supporting the former unit 10 includes a pair ofleft and right sliding members 20, 20 and a rotational member 30. Eachof the left and right sliding members 20, 20 is supported on therespective fixed member 7, 7 of the main body 2 so as to be capable ofsliding forward and backward. A lower end part of the rotational member30 pivots on front end parts of the sliding members 20, 20, and whichallows the upper part of the rotational member 30 to rotate forward. Theformer unit 10 is removably attached to the rotational member 30.

The left and the right of the sliding member 20, 20 have the sameconfiguration. The sliding members 20, 20 comprise upper edge members21, 21, front part members 22, 22, and guide rods 23, 23. The upper edgemembers 21, 21 extend in the transverse direction. The front partmembers 22, 22 extend downward. The upper end parts of the front partmembers 22, 22 are joined to the front end parts of the upper edgemembers 21, 21. The guide rods 23, 23 extend rearward. The front endparts of the guide rods 23, 23 are joined to the lower parts of thefront part members 22, 22. As a result, the sliding members 20, 20 havethe shape of a three-sided square when viewed from the side.

The upper edge members 21, 21 have engaging members 24, 24. The engagingmembers 24, 24 are attached to lower surfaces of the rear end parts ofthe upper edge members 21, 21. The engaging members 24, 24 are engagedwith the rails 7 a, 7 a on the upper surfaces of the fixed members 7, 7so as to be capable of sliding forward and backward. The guide rods 23,23 are inserted in through-holes 7 b′, 7 b′. The through-holes 7 b′, 7b′ are provided to the guide blocks 7 b, 7 b on the lower surfaces ofthe front end parts of the fixed members 7, 7. As a result, the left andright sliding members 20, 20 are supported on the left and right fixedmembers 7, 7, so as to be capable of sliding forward and backwardbetween a rearward position shown in FIG. 2 and a forward position shownin FIG. 5.

The rotational member 30 comprises a platform 31 and a pair of left andright leg members 32, 32. The pair of left and right leg members 32, 32extend downward from either end part of a lower surface of the platform31. Lower end parts of the leg members 32, 32 are rotatably joined tolower parts of the front part members 22, 22 of the sliding members 20via fulcrum pins 33, 33 (pivot pins). As a result, the rotational member30 can pivot forward about a lower end part of the rotational member 30,from the upright orientation shown in FIG. 2 to the forwardly inclinedorientation shown in FIG. 6.

One leg member 32 of the rotational member 30 has a locking mechanism34. The locking mechanism 34 is configured to keep the rotational member30 in the upright orientation at the rearward position. A locking member34 a of the locking mechanism 34 is engaged with a locking pin 34 b,which keeps the sliding members 20, 20 in the rearward position andkeeps the rotational member 30 in the upright orientation. The lockingpin 34 b is provided to one fixed member 7 of the main body 2. When alever 34 c of the locking mechanism 34 is operated and the lockingmember 34 a is disengaged from the locking pin 34 b, the sliding members20, 20 can slide to the forward position and the rotational member 30can be rotated to be in the forwardly inclined orientation.

The left and right leg members 32, 32 of the rotational member 30 haveextension parts 32 a, 32 a. The extension parts 32 a, 32 a extend lowerthan the fulcrum pins 33, 33. Between the extension parts 32 a, 32 a andbrackets 25, 25, air cylinders 26, 26 are mounted. The brackets 25, 25are attached to the rear end parts of the guide rods 23, 23 on thesliding members 20, 20.

When the rotational member 30 rotates forward from the uprightorientation shown in FIG. 2, the air cylinders 26, 26 control any abruptrotation of the rotational member 30 through resistance due tocontraction of piston rods 26 a, 26 a. And the air cylinders 26, 26 areconfigured to restrict the forward rotation of the rotational member 30at a stroke end of the piston rods function with a prescribed forwardlyinclined orientation.

The base member 13 of the former unit 10 is disposed on the platform 31of the rotational member 30. The platform 31 has left and right pressingmembers 35, 35 for securing the former unit 10. The pressing members 35,35 press pressed members 15, 15 on the platform 31, which is configuredthat the entirety of the base plate 13 and the former unit 10 aresecured on the platform 31. The pressed members 15, 15 are provided tothe side parts of a lower surface of the base plate 13 of the formerunit 10.

One pressing member 35 is configured to detach from the pressed member15 through the operation of a lever 36 so that the former unit 10 couldbe removed from the platform 31.

Next, the function of attaching of detaching the former unit 10 will bedescribed.

During an ordinary packaging operation, the sliding members 20, 20 arepositioned relatively rearward of the fixed members 7, 7 of the mainbody 2, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The rotational member 30 is in theupright orientation, in which state the locking member 34 a of thelocking mechanism 34 is engaged with the locking pin 34 b provided toone fixed member 7. Accordingly, the forward-sliding action of thesliding members 20, 20 and the forward rotation of the rotational member30 are restricted, and the former unit 10 supported on the rotationalmember 30 is secured in an upright orientation in the rearward positionin which the packaging operation is performed (“first position”).

In this state, the packaging operation is performed as follows. The filmb dispensed from the roll a supported on the roll support part 3 is bentinto a tubular shape using the shoulder 11 of the former unit 10, andthe vertical seal device 4 and the horizontal seal device 5 are used toform a bag c. An article introduced into the chute part 12 is directedinto the bag c. The horizontal seal device 5 then seals and cuts anupper portion of the bag c into which the article was introduced. Theproduct that the article is hermetically sealed in the bag c is therebyproduced.

In a case where the former unit 10 is removed from the main body 2 ofthe bag making and packaging apparatus 1 for replacement, cleaning,inspection, or the like, the lever 34 c of the locking mechanism 34 isoperated first. The sliding members 20, 20 are thereby released from therearward position and the rotational member 30 are thereby released fromthe upright orientation.

Next, if the former unit 10 is pulled forward using the supportingpillars 14, 14 or the like of the former unit 10 as handles, the slidingmembers 20, 20 slide forward along the rails 7 a, 7 a of the fixedmembers 7, 7. Also, the rotational member 30 and the former unit 10accordingly move forward to the forward position shown in FIG. 5. Inthis case, the sliding to the forward position is regulated by thetouching of the bracket 25 to the guide block 7 b which is attached tothe fixed member 7 on the main body 2. The bracket 25 is attached to therear end of the guide rod 23 on the sliding member 20.

In this forward position, if the supporting pillars 14, 14 of the formerunit 10 are grasped and the upper part of the former unit 10 is rotatedforward, the rotational member 30 will rotate forward about the fulcrumpins 33, 33 in the lower parts of the leg members 32, 32. As a result,the rotational member 30 and the former unit 10 are hold in a forwardlyinclined orientation, as shown in FIG. 6 (“second position”), and theformer unit 10 is positioned lower as a whole than the former unit 10shown in FIG. 5.

When the rotational member 30 rotates forward, the air cylinders 26, 26regulate any abrupt rotation of the rotational member 30 to which theformer unit 10 is attached, and the rotational member 30 and the formerunit 10 are held in the prescribed forwardly inclined orientation. Theair cylinders 26, 26 are mounted between the leg members 32, 32 of therotational member 30 and the brackets 25, 25 on the sliding members 20,20.

If, in the forwardly inclined orientation, one of the left and rightpressing members 35, 35 securing the former unit 10 onto the platform 31of the rotational member 30 is retracted by the operation of the lever36 to disengage the pressing members 35, 35 from the pressed members 15,15 which is provided to the base plate 13 of the former unit 10, theformer unit 10 can be removed from the platform 31 of the rotationalmember 30.

In this case, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the sliding action of thesliding members 20, toward the forward position and the rotation of therotational member 30 toward the forwardly inclined orientation cause theupper part of the former unit 10 to which the supporting pillars 14, 14are provided to be positioned lower. At the same time, the upper part ofthe former unit 10 is projected forward over a front surface 2 b of themain body 2. Therefore, the operation of removing the heavy former unit10 can be performed at a comparatively low position, at the front of themain body 2, without entering inside or inner part of the main body 2.The same can be said for attaching the former unit 10 after replacing,cleaning, inspecting, or the like. That will improve the workability ofattaching and detaching the former unit 10.

In the above description, the former unit 10 is slid to the forwardposition before being rotated to the forwardly inclined orientation.However, the former unit 10 can be slid after being rotated to theforwardly inclined orientation, and the former unit 10 further can berotated with being slid.

Other embodiments of the present invention will now be described.

According to the previous embodiment, the sliding motion of the slidingmembers 20, 20 and the pivoting action of the rotational member 30 allowthe former unit 10 to move from the first position, in which thepackaging operation is performed, to the second position, in which theformer unit 10 is attached or detached, the second position being lowerthan the first position. However, according to another embodiment, asupporting member of the former unit is supported by a linear guidingmechanism such as a linear bearing, which allows the supporting memberto move vertically relative to the member on the main body whichcorresponds to the fixed member 7 of the previous embodiment. The formerunit is thereby configured to move from the first position to the secondposition, which is lower than the first position.

In other embodiment, a member for supporting the former unit issupported in a vertically moveable manner relative to a membercorresponding to the sliding members 20, 20 of the previous embodiment.The member corresponding to the sliding members 20, 20 are supportedslidably forward and backward on the fixed member 7. The former unit isthereby moved from a first position to a second position, which isfurther forward and lower than the first position.

In the above embodiments, configurations such as a rack-and-pinionmechanism in which the pinion is rotated with a handle or a motor; aball screw mechanism in which the screw shaft is rotated with a handleor motor; and a configuration in which a cylinder moves up-and-down areemployed as means of moving the supporting member of the former unit upand down.

As shown in the above description, according to any of these otherembodiments, the second position, in which the former unit is attachedor detached, is lower than the first position, in which the packagingoperation is performed; which thereby improves the workability ofattaching and detaching the forming machine.

As has been described in the foregoing, the bag making and packagingapparatus according to the illustrated embodiments improves theworkability of attaching or detaching the former unit, and isaccordingly used advantageously in industrial fields in which packagingmachines of this type are used.

1. A bag making and packaging apparatus adapted to bend a film and toform a packaging bag, the bag making and packaging apparatus comprising:a former configured and arranged to form the film into a tubular shape;and a supporting member removably supporting the former, and configuredand arranged to allow movement of the former from a first position, inwhich a packaging operation is performed, to a second position, which islower than the first position.
 2. The bag making and packaging apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the supporting member includes a slidingmember configured and arranged to slide the former horizontally, arotational member configured and arranged to pivot the former about aprescribed pivot point to allow a vertical movement of the former, andthe sliding member and the rotational member are configured and arrangedto move the former from the first position to the second position by asliding motion of the sliding member and a pivoting motion of therotational member.